Duffy Travels – A Duffy the Disney Bear Fansite

May 16th, 2011 | Posted by Jen

Sometimes, I feel a lot of people forget that phrase. And even if you can’t think of something positive, there’s a way to state an opinion without coming off as a complete jerk. For example, saying something isn’t your cup of tea or how you prefer a different version.

But looking at it and completely tearing it apart (and on top of that, ignoring some obvious contradictions) is just…really rude and screwed up. Especially when the only reasons given, when really narrowed down, are just being elitist.

And I think a lot of people forget that Duffy was originally made in the US. Yes, he didn’t have the story or the character or the name, but the actual design of the bear was made in the US. Even if the bear was made better, it still has the same design–the same face, the same markings. Regardless of the fact that Japan created the character, the character wouldn’t exist to begin with if it wasn’t for the release in the US parks.

And Duffy wasn’t named originally–it was a year before he was officially named. The main difference is Japan knows how to market these things, cute things are also a lot more popular too as everyone loves them. No guy feels awkward (or at least not as awkward–people are a lot more okay with that there) having some cute little pink puppy hanging off his cellphone. Here in the US, that’s unfortunately not the case. And while my boyfriend may enjoy having a teddy bear dressed as a Jedi in his room near his closet, there is no way he’d go out in public carrying it around without feeling awkward or like an idiot.

The main issue is, people keep comparing. Yes, the US did a bad job at marketing the Disney Bear–putting it in a few places in one or two stores isn’t going to help anyone find it. My family goes to Disney at least once a year, so we did manage to get one of the original ones. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t “cute” or was a “disgrace” or “ugly”. I love my pink Disney Bear and my normal smaller one. I love them both quite a bit.

I also love my Duffy that I got in Japan. He’s still wearing parts of the Pirate costume I gave him when I went in 2007. And yes, the Japanese costumes are more detailed and have more things, but they’re also twice the price. And regardless of whether people care more about quality over quantity, a lot of people just can’t afford it right now–the US is having a lot of money issues and you can’t expect everyone to be okay spending 30-40 dollars or more on an outfit for a teddy bear. And that’s the thing, the US -is not- Japan. Not everyone is going to see that, a lot of people think Build a Bear costumes are too expensive to begin with. Disney’s prices may even be more, but it’s Disney World. As already stated, everything is always more expensive.

And the thing is, all Disney Parks do want money deep down, yes, but they also have different ways of appealing to people. Lots of people in the US think Japan commercials are incredibly weird or odd–some people think they’re cute or catchy, it’s how it is, so in general, those commercials won’t work for most people in the US, but they work for Japan and that’s why Japan uses them.

Japan has a lot of things different–less commercials during cartoons, being able to mention sponsors and things like that. The US has about 20 minutes of commercials in an hour show and 8-10 minutes in a 30 minute show.

And you just can’t compare it. There’s just no way.

If anything, everyone should just be happy that Duffy is back in the US and they’re making costumes and doing things for him and that’s REALLY NICE. We can’t all afford to go to Tokyo Disney to go pick up some outfits for 30-40+ dollars (exchange rates) and come back whenever we want. We can’t afford to pay 3x the price minimum to buy them off Ebay from some ruthless overpriced sellers or buy them off Yahoo! Japan with some overpriced fees from a bidding service. We can’t do that.

So, why can’t we just be happy? And you know what? I’ve seen people in Japan happy about having more official outfits for their Duffy. Happy to have their Duffy in all kinds of new clothes from the other parks. Happy to have all these different colored Disney bears despite being “lesser quality”. Why? Because they just love Duffy, they love everything about him even if the quality may technically be less, that doesn’t change their feelings for it.

The thing that’s a shame is a lot of people can’t seem to do that. And regardless of where you are (whether you’re from the US and now live in Japan…or are from Japan and now live in the US, or even any other countries) or where you’re from, why does that seem to be so hard to do?

I’m really happy about the US outfits, even if I like some of the Japanese ones more, I’m just happy they exist. I’m happy I can take my Duffy to the park and not feel weird about people wondering what the heck it is. I’m happy I can actually afford some official stuff for my Duffy.

So seriously, just stop, pause, and be THANKFUL. It really shouldn’t be that hard.

Edit: Follow-up